Safeguarding Our Railway Heritage

The Railway Heritage Committee is a statutory body operating under the authority of the Railway Heritage Act 1996 as amended by the Railways Act 2005. It has the function of 'designating' records and artefacts still within the ownership of the post-British Rail (BR) industry which are historically significant and should be permanently preserved.

The Committee also has the function of agreeing which institutions will hold those records or artefacts so designated when no longer required by the railway business that owns them, and the terms under which they will be offered to those institutions.

Other pages of this site show the latest Annual Report, and also a list of items that have been designated to date. As may be seen, many items, or classes of item, have now been subject to designation.

- POTENTIAL DISBANDMENT OF COMMITTEE ? -

Speaking after the Government’s announcement about the reform of public bodies on the 14th October, the acting Chairman of the Railway Heritage Committee, Peter Ovenstone said:

“The Government has announced the abolition of the Railway Heritage Committee which has served the rail industry for the last 14 years, continuing the work of identifying railway records and artefacts for preservation, started by British Railways over 60 years ago.

“The Committee has met and confirmed its willingness to work proactively with Government, the rail industry, and the heritage and archiving sectors, during the winding down process, to see how the heritage of the modern rail industry can best be protected for the future.

Annual Report

There is something special and evocative about the railways, and I rejoice to see them do well.They remain the only industry whose heritage is protected by Act of Parliament, and this imposes a powerful responsibility
on those of us who serve on the Railway Heritage Committee charged with the duty of ensuring that what is of significance to the industry’s history is preserved.